Mistaken
by TeaTheUnicorn
Summary: Aaliyah has spent most of her life with her horrid father, but when she becomes a mutant everything changes. OC/?
1. Running

Disclaimer: I sadly don't own x-men, only the plot and Aaliyah.

Mistaken

Aaliyah pulled her thin jacket closer to her body as she stalked quietly through the midnight forest, watching the frozen horizon for any sign of movement. She heard a light rustling noise to her left that made her heart stop. _They've found me, _she thought miserably, _this is it now I'll never escape. _She drew in a sharp breath, her green eyes scanning the darkness. A figure stepped out from behind one of the massive trees.

His dark, greasy hair clung to his blotchy skin as his beady, beatle black eyes roamed the trees, settling upon Aaliyah as a wicked grin crept onto his face.

She leaned into one of the large trees behind her chanting "Please, don't come near me, please, j-just stay away from me." She could feel her anger rising and she just prayed to God that the man infront of her was sensible enough to know that he really shouldn't cross her when she was like that.

He wasn't. He stalked forward, his eyes never leaving the trembling girls face, she did her best to avoid his gaze, knowing she would only frighten herself if she saw the evil intentions that lurked beneath the surface. Something metal glistened in his hand, _a knife, _Aaliyah thought, _he's going to 'dispose' of me, just like he did the others._

Aaliyah felt her hands burning, she looked down, fearing the worst. However what she saw made her heart skip a beat for the second time that night, they were _glowing. _A beautiful silver-white colour that surrounded the girl's pale hands, making them dark in comparison. The reflections from the light gleamed against the snow all around her, making it shine like crystals in the darkness.

She had been so distracted by the light that she hadn't noticed the man, closer than she would have thought possible without her hearing, he plunged the knife into the girls side making her vision go red. On impulse she lifted her hands to cover her face, forgetting the glowing and the man stumbled back in shock. The disgust on his face was unbelievable, the things he did, the lives he had ruined and he was disgusted because Aaliyah was a _mutant._

"I should have known, you little freak. You've always thought you were above the rest of us, haven't you? You're always trying to make a life for yourself, you think you deserve more than we give you. Well, you're wrong aren't you. Who's going to take you in now that you're one of _them? _Hmm, let me think _nobody!_" He practically screamed at her, before turning and retreating quickly into the darkness with one last message for her. "You're no daughter of mine."

That comment hurt more than the knife in her side, to know that her father had rejected her, hated her, and her becoming a mutant just made it all worse. He had finally done it, made his threats a reality, he had left her dying in the woods, no place to go, no friends to help her. She knew as well as he did that mutants weren't readily accepted into any community. _Perhaps it would be bette if I just died, _she thought, astonished by how weak she sounded, Aaliyah was usually a very stubborn, strong willed girl, but she couldn't bring herself to once again ruin her own life, she would only be met by more dissapointment. She lowered herself to the ground and rested her head against the tree behind her. She was vaguely aware of some shouting somewhere in the woods, before darkness claimed her vision and she slipped into the unconcious dreamworld that awaited her with open arms.


	2. Meetings

Mistaken

Aaliyah woke to the sound of people talking, and the feel of cool metal against her skin. She was lying on some sort of medical table and when she opened her eyes she could see a man in a wheelchair and a beautiful woman with red hair looking at her intently.

"Hello, I am Charles Xavier and this is Jean Grey." The man said, gesturing to the woman beside him.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, where am I?" She said, startled by the weakness of her voice.

"A school, a safe haven of sorts, for people like us, mutants." He looked into her eyes sincerely.

"Oh." Was all she could say, she looked down at herself and saw that someone had bandaged over her wound, she was grateful, the more she thought about it the angrier she became with herself for thinking she could just give up like that.

"What happened to you?" The red haired woman asked, her head slightly tilted.

"Uh, nothing really. It was an accident." Her voice sounded a lot stronger, she hoped they wouldn't see through her facade, Aaliyah honestly didn't feel like awnsering questions, she wanted some time to herself.

The two in front of her exchanged looks.

"What's your name?" Jean asked kindly.

"Aaliyah. Just Aaliyah." She replied quickly.

"Well, Aaliyah, if you would like we are offering you a place to stay, to be around other mutants your age, over time we shall teach you to control your power and broaden your horizons." Mr Xavier said.

Aaliyah nodded.

"Very well, Jean will show you to your room." With that he left.

"So this is a school, right? Are there lots of other m-muntants here? Are they dangerous?" She knew she sounded a little impolite, but she would rather get her questions out of the way with as small and audience as possible.

"Yes this is a school, we do have quite a few students, many of them being runaways, with no other options. I'm not going to lie to you, some students here have powers that could be deemed dangerous, but we are doing our best to teach them to gain control over their powers." She sounded a little impatient and didn't wait for Aaliyah to reply before she stood and led the girl out, eventually coming to a room somewhere on the third floor. "This is your room, I'll be down in the lab if you need anything."

Aaliyah nodded and watched the woman walk away. She slowly pushed the door open, wary of what she would find inside.

It was amazing, there were two beds in the room, it was quite big and there was a large wardrobe pushed against one of the walls. What really took her breath away was the view from the window, the trees and grass shone a wonderful green in the sunlight. She had been so caught up in looking around she hadn't noticed the girl coming out of the room Aaliyah could only guess was a bathroom.

"Hi, you're the new girl, right?" She had a southern accent and her hair was a pretty dark brown with two intersting streaks of white framing her face.

"Yes, I'm Aaliyah, and you are?"

"Rogue, pleasure to meet you. What's your power?" She said curiously.

Aaliyah thought of the night before because she thought getting angry would be the quickest way to call it. Soon enough she was glowing again, but she must've let her mind wander off because it spread from her hands to all the way up her arms.

"Neat. I guess I'm what you could call a power sponge. When mutants touch me I absorb life force and I can temporarily access their powers." Aaliyah could tell the girl was trying to be light hearted about it but she could hear the underlying annoyance in her voice.

Aaliyah nodded. "Uh, Rogue, I don't s'pose you've got anything I can borrow, I didn't bring any clothes with me and this is kinda dirty." She gestured to the bloody shirt covering her torso.

The girl smiled apologetticaly and reached into the wardrobe, pulling out a black tank top and a pair of dark jeans. "Here you go, they might be a little big on you though." She handed them over and Aaliyah stepped into the bathroom, once again surprised at the size of it, she couldn't help but wonder if all the rooms had ensuite bathrooms or whether Rogue was just lucky.

Aaliyah decided to take a shower, letting the hot water rush over her skin, trying to calm her anxiety. If she had one weakness it would be her inability to start conversations with people she didn't really know or trust, once you got to know her though, she was bubbly and quite opinionated.

Rogue was right, the shirt wasn't so bad, it fit her okay but the jeans were way too long so Aaliyah had to roll them up at the bottom until they reached just below her knees so she didn't look quite so dorky. She spent some time in there, towel drying her hair and brushing it through nearly twenty times, she was a little nervous about how people would react to her. She stood and observed herself in the mirror.

What she saw shocked her. Her hair, which used to be a dull brown colour now sat, long layered and slightly curly, shining an odd silver-white shade and her once green eyes were now a peircing shade of violet. She looked very odd and she was astonished that such a small change in her genes made such a large difference to her looks.

When she walked out she saw that Rogue was sat on the edge of her bed, examining her nails. Aaliyah assumed the girl was bored so she asked if she could give her a tour of the mansion, it was fun enough, but she was sure to get lost at some point. Rogue had made sure the girl stopped by the Professor's office and got her schedule, she was pleased to find out that classes didn't start for another week because the students were on a winter break.

When they were finished Rogue had lead the girl outside, claiming she needed her vitamin D, thought Aaliyah didn't understand why it was sunny in the middle of winter, the weather was baffling sometimes. Rogue came to a halt at a tree on the east side of the grounds and sat beneath it, introducing Cady to the two boys who sat beneath it; Bobby and John.

Aaliyah had gathered that Bobby and Rogue were in a relationship because the two were all over eachother, yet the only time they touched was when he held her gloved hands, so she busied herself with the boy who kept flicking the lid of his lighter open and closed.

"So what do you do?" Aaliyah asked politely.

John flicked the lighter open and held one hand up, the flame balled up and rested above his open palm. "Woah, that's cool." She said, staring intently into the fire, she had always found the strange orange-ish colour fascinating.

"What about you?" He replied cooly.

Aaliyah repeated her earlier demonstration but this time she got so completely absorbed in her thoughts about her father that the colour engulfed her whole body. She tryed her best to regain control as her vision started to dull into the same strange silver-white colour that she knew surrounded her. It took her several quiet moments but she managed.

"So is that an energy projection?" She heard and recognised the voice of the boy Rogue had introduced as Bobby.

"Uh, I don't really know, it just happens." She sounded dumb and she knew it.

"Oh, cool." Bobby said and went back to Rogue, quickly losing interest in the new girl.

She looked ahead and leaned back so she was leant against the thick tree trunk, out of the corner of her eye she noticed John sneeking glances at her and she wondered if there was something on her face, but she let it drop quickly, allowing the tiredness she had been supressing to take over control of her body and mind, she drifted into unconsciousness quickly and she was aware sometime later of strong arms lifting her up and carrying her small body, which explained how she found herself several hours later waking up in the room Rogue had said was the lounge. She was sprawled over one of the couches and she heard someone say "So, sleeping beauty awakes." She could here the smile in the boys voice and she looked up to see someone she hadn't met yet, he said his name was Oliver.

The two teens spent quite a lot of time talking, they stayed up until around eleven at night and Aaliyah was very pleased because the boy was only a year or two older than her sixteen so she would be in some classes with him, she had friends, something her father had always forbidden.


	3. Fighting and Friendship

Mistaken

In the morning Rogue told Aaliyah that she would be going shopping with a woman named Ororo but apparently everyone just called her Storm, and Rogue herself so that she could get some new clothes and everything she would need.

During breakfast Aaliyah spent her time talking to Oliver, he was very friendly for which Aaliyah was eternally grateful, she knew what it was like to be new and have no-one to talk to. She couldn't help but notice how his dark hair fell over one clear blue eye and when he laughed or smiled a dimple appeared on his right cheek. It was adorable. By the time Rogue told her that they were leaving she really didn't want to go she found herself enjoying the boys company more than she would have thought, they shared a strange sense of humour and he kept making her giggle, which was incredibly difficult.

Storm, Aaliyah soon discovered, was a pretty woman with tan skin and hair a darker shade of silver than her own and she was quite a kind person which made her easy to get along with so the shopping trip was almost bareable. Aaliyah wasn't the kind of girl who could spend hours cooing over clothes, she preffered to get it over and done with then move on to something much more productive, like drawing. She was a big fan of art, taking particular interest of drawing people, and living things.

They were just leaving what would be their last shop when Aaliyah spotted him, he was leaning against a pillar talking to a man who's looks could be described as startling at best, Aaliyah tried her best to hide behind the two women accompanying her but it failed, he caught her eye and an evil smirk crossed his face. He obviously didn't realise that she wasn't alone, because the girl knew he was too much of a coward to face her when she had help, he wouldn't want to risk getting caught. To them, secrecy was everything.

She saw him whisper conspiratorially to his friend before they both dissapeared, each going in opposite directions, everything they did looked co-ordinated. Aaliyah had been so engrossed in watching their actions that she didn't notice her two companions had stopped and were giving her odd, slightly worried looks.

"It's nothing, can we go back now?" She said, the fear she felt echoeing slightly through her voice. Thankfully neither of the noticed and Storm quickly agreed, guessing the new girl was anxious to return to the mansion because she wanted to try on her new clothes or some other trivial thing. They had luckily managed to avoid Aaliyah's persuers and were soon heading back to the mansion. The girl sat and listened to Rogue's southeren drawl explaining something Aaliyah couldn't quite comprehend so she just smiled and nodded when the girl looked at her.

She noticed, however, that Storm had glanced at her a few times, a frown creasing her face and a strange look in her eyes. Maybe she _had _noticed, well if she had she didn't say anything and if she hadn't yet then she wasn't likely to, right? Or perhaps she was waiting for Rogue to leave them so that she could corner the girl, well, whatever the case, Aaliyah wasn't going to mention her father and his shady friend, she would simply lie about nerves or anxiety about moving into the mansion full of unfamiliar people.

Upon arrival, Aaliyah was pleased to find Oliver waiting for her, he kindly offered to help her shift the numerous bags from the car to her's and Rogue's room. They chatted idly about what they liked and what they didn't like.

"I'm totally terrified of spiders, you know, they're so creepy. One time I met this guy, he was sooo _hot..._" Oliver squeaked in a mock-female voice. He sure did know how to make a girl laugh.

"Oh, really? Do I know this guy?" She decided to play along.

"You know him well, he's about yay big," He made an inch of space between his thumb and forefinger, "Pretty purple eyes and this _killer _grey hair," That last comment made Aaliyah crack up entirely so she didn't notice that she was walking straight into someone until she bumped off them and landed on her backside.

"Ouch," She groaned, looking up to see John. "I'm sorry." She picked herself up and dusted herself off. "Y'know, Ollie, darling, when you put it like that it make it sound like you've been eyeing yourself up a poor old pensioner."

He winked in reply. "Well, maybe I have."

John gave them both strange looks, his eyes resting on Aaliyah before he snorted and walked off. "Well, that wasn't very polite." She stated.

"Neither was walking into him like that, Allie." He chuckled lightly and walked into her room, placing the bag he was holding on her bed. The both sat down.

"Oh my word, I hate this weather." She motioned to the window, which gave them a clear view of the heavy rain and Aaliyah couldn't help but think about how much of a contrast it was to the day before, which had been lovely and sunny. Maybe American weather was just toast.

" It's not _that _bad, dear, it's only a spot of rain." He said the last few words with a dreadful British accent.

"Yes it is." She muttered stubbornly. "Now out, I've gotta put all these away and you're distracting me." She shooed him out the door and slammed it behind him. Her eyes grazed over the shopping bag mountain that sat on her bed, Storm and Rogue had insisted that she buy everything she would need and more, she was sure she could manage to wear a different outfit entirely everyday for at least two weeks, it was completely uneccessary in Aaliyah's eyes. "Off to work." She hummed the tune from 'Snow White' and sorted through the clothing. Rogue had commented that she had rather an odd taste when it came to fashion, she seemed to like the look of the old fashioned things more than the latest and greatest, her eyes skimmed longingly over some quite vintage looking jeans with patches and rips covering the majority of the faded fabric. It was a habit more than anything, she had a thing for charity shops, for they were usually the most in her price range and the clothes had a certain something to them that made them unique, often inspiring more odd pictures from the artistic teen.

When she was finished she practically ran to the lounge area to look for Ollie, and she wasn't dissapointed for he sat, with Bobby, John, Rogue and a girl Rogue had introduced as Penny around the table on the left side of the room, they seemed to be jolly enough so Aaliyah pulled up a chair between Bobby and Penny and greeted everyone at the table.

"Good morning, sunshine." Ollie said dramatically, he seemed a tad odd but that was why Aaliyah liked him, he had personality.

"How do you do?" She said, sticking out a small hand by way of greeting.

"Spiffing, Allie, and you?" He shook her hand firmly until she squirmed out of his strong grip.

"Well, I suppose I'll do, it took me weeks to conquer bag mountain." She saw out of the corner of her eye some strange looks that were being shared between the other occupants of the table and she heard a pronounced _click _in the background that she guessed must be from the lighter John had the day they were outside, it was probably just a habit.

"You coming to the museum with us, newbie?" She looked up to see the smug smile plastered to John's face.

She was confused. "Museum?"

Penny nodded. "Storm's taking us on a trip, for learning and all." A crisp British accent made her words sound clipped and quite formal.

"Oh, well I guess I will, I'm here now, might aswell join the party." She smiled shyly.

Ollie grinned at her. "Wooo, party!" He shouted excitedly.

"Woah, down boy." Aaliyah commanded as if she were talking to a dog.

"Yes, mom." He replied automatically. "Wanna go outside?" He asked the table.

"It's raining." Penny said.

"Then grab your coats kids." Aaliyah said jumping up happily and clambering onto Ollie's back when he stood too.

"Hey!" He exclaimed.

"What? My legs are short and I think I hit my head when I stumbled into John-dear." She argued, resorting in a few wierd sounds from the table behind her, most of it sounded like muffled laughter. She turned her head, "Shut it, lads and ladies, unless you're offering me a ride?" She raised and eyebrow, a cheeky smile crossing her features.

"No!" Was the unanimous response.

"Go! Steed!" She clicked her heels into Ollie's side. "To the girl's dorms!" She laughed at the groan that sounded from her friend.

Half an hour later both Allie and Ollie were outside, Aaliyah wearing the thin jacket she had been when she first arrived and Oliver in his own, slightly more practical, coat. The were racing around like lunatics in the rain, both trying to shake sopping hair out of their eyes when Aaliyah got an idea. _Mudfight, _she thought and leaned down to scoop up a hand of the sloppy substance, lobbing it at the jeering boy, hitting him square in the chest. "Oh yeah, I'm victorious." She chanted and began to dance around until she felt something hit the back of her head and she turned to see a grinning Ollie looking at her with a false expression of innocence on his face.

"Oh, you evil child." She said, mock-hurt and threw another handful at him.

The two carried on for what felt like hours until both were soaked to the skin and plastered with mud, Aaliyah knew it would take some serious work getting that gunk out of her hair but it had been worth it, truly. They were sprawled on the wet grass laughing and joking, until Oliver rose to his feet and offered Allie a hand to pull her up, she accepted stupidly and didn't realise he was just going to push her back down again so she fell and it made a very loud sloshing noise when she made the impact.

"Meanie." She growled and stayed firmly on the ground this time he offered her his hand.

"Scout's honour, I wont do it again." He crossed his fingers over his heart, a sight that made Aaliyah laugh out loud because he looked so sweet with his dimple, dripping hair and sweet expression it made her want to go 'aww', but she restrained herself so she could keep what was left of her dignity.

She took his hand once more and this time he acually pulled her to her feet so she could once more jump on his back. "Consider this your payment for injuring a poor little girl." She smiled.

"You're a _girl?_" His voice sounded so genuinly shocked that Aaliyah decided she would slap him upside the head which made him laugh harder. As they neared the mansion she could see a few interested faces looking out through the windows, she realised they must really look a sight, soaked, mud covered and Allie hanging onto his back for dear life.

"Take me to my room, slave." She ordered and he did as asked. "Thank you, good sir. You should start a cab buisiness, you know? You could get a lotta money."

He smiled sweetly and batted his eyelashes, "I'm flattered, truly. For now, I shall leave, you need to get cleaned up, doll." He added a cheeky wink and then he was gone.

The hot shower was a relief after the cold rain and mud, she felt normal again once she had managed to scrub all the mud from her hair, it took her three times shampoo-ing, but at least she was sure that her hair smelled like blueberries, which was a definate plus. She changed into a clean black tanktop and some neon orange cotton pants which she fell in love with because of the colour, she pulled her hair into a loose plait and shoved her feet into her shoes before wandering out into the kitchen, she was hungry after all the messing around. She was surprised to find Rogue in there, all alone.

"Hi, Aaliyah." She greeted from her bowl of soup.

"Yo. What's up?" She said happily, finding her prey within seconds, a jar of peanut butter, she set upon making her sandwich as her friend replied.

"Nothing, really. I was just gonna eat something then me and Bobby were gonna hang out some more." She smiled. "We were watching you and Oliver earlier, you would make a sweet couple." Her southern accent made her words sound completely innocent even though she could see something behind the girl's blank expression.

"Well, thanks for the observation, I guess." She sat across from her friend and tucked into her sandwich. "I've only known him for about a day and a half, though. I don't really know him all that well yet." She said honestly.

Her friend laughed and muttered something under her breath that Aaliyah didn't quite catch when the boy in question walked into the room.

"Speak of the devil." Allie said playfully.

"So, talking about me girls, let me guess, you want to braid my hair too?" He sat next to Aaliyah and stole half her sandwich.

"Nope, got that covered." Allie joked, pulling up her own braid. "You stole my sandwich." She poked him in the nose.

"OR maybe it was my sandwich and you stole it." He replied mysteriously.

"Theif." She muttered.

"What was that dear?" He put on the voice of an elderly woman, cupping his hand around his ear.

"Nothing, darling, just you get back to your _stolen_ sandwich."

She looked across to see Rogue sending her odd looks and trying not to chuckle before she got up and left the room, leaving only Ollie and Allie sat, arguing over a snack.


	4. Food Court

Mistaken

The next morning both Aaliyah and Rogue were in their room, groaning at the chirpy alarm clock that sat on Rouge's bedside table. They only had to get up so early because there was to be a field trip of sorts to some museum.

Aaliyah threw her pilow at the girl across from her and sat up. "C'mon, I suppose we'd better be getting ready, we've only got about an hour before we have to leave." That made Rogue jump out of bed and rush over to the wardrobe, rifling through until she found the clothes she was after. The girl mumbled something about taking a shower and dissapeared into the bathroom.

Allie stumbled up and grabbed the clothes she had been smart enough to pick out the night before; a nice pair of banana yellow converse, some tight, dark jeans, a white tanktop and a long red checked blouse to wear over it. She examined herself in the mirror and decided to only do one button on the blouse so it didn't cling to her and she simply brushed through her hair, leaving the silver-white curls to cascade down her back. When she was pleased with how she looked she bolted out of the room in search of some breakfast, once she got to the kitchen it didn't take her long to hunt down the box of cheerios she was after.

She ate quickly, as usual, so that she would have some time to herself before they had to leave. Allie's mind was still working over Rogue's words from the night before, she had made a comment about her's and Ollie's friendship, even though they barely knew eachother. Aaliyah had to admit that she did like the boy, but she was very confused as to whether or not she liked him in the way Rogue had implied. She had never gotten the oppurtunity to talk to boys much before, she spent most of her days in that Godforsaken house with her father.

Her thoughts were interupted when a girl with short, dark hair and clear blue eyes skipped merrily into the room- well, she didn't actually skip, but she was definately merry, this girl was a morning person.

"Hi, Penny." Aaliyah greeted the girl she had met the day before, she seemed nice.

"Mornin' Allie." Since Oliver had first called her that most of the rest of them had too, it was a lot shorter than Aaliyah, and easier to spell, not that people spelled her name when they said it. _Oh, dear, internal rambling isn't good for the brain, _she mentally chastised herself.

"How's life treating you?"

"It's good, thanks. How're you on this fine day?" Her British accent _did _make her sound uber posh compared to Aaliyah.

"Just swell, I suppose I had better go see how Rogue's beautifying is coming along." She gave a quick wave and left the room.

"Ro-ogue." She chanted in a strange singsong voice.

"Yeah?" The girl's southern voice replied.

"Are you done yet, we've only got ten minutes left."

"Almost, just brushing my hair."

"Okie dokie, artichokie. I'm going to go outside, I'll met you there, 'kay?"

The girl nodded.

The museum was big, very big. Oliver, John, Rogue, Bobby and Aaliyah were wandering around, slowly distancing themselves from the other students and the professors, it wasn't hard, they didn't really seem to notice the older kids.

After a while of stalking around the exhibits, Rogue, Bobby and John left Ollie and Aaliyah to go to the food court, they obviously weren't as interested in history as Aaliyah and she knew that Oliver was only staying to keep her company. She couldn't help it, she found it all so fascinating, but after another ten minutes or so she managed to tear herself away from the room filled with Ancient Egyptian artifacts and exhibits and she and her companion went to join the other three. Oliver raced ahead of her but she didn't really feel like running because she noticed the others talking to two teenage boys who looked awfully similar. _Must be related, _Aaliyah thought. They looked a little annoyed but that was nothing compared to the looks on their faces when Allie finally skipped over to the table, mainly because she tripped on her own feet and fell over, taking the boy infront with her.

She could hear a loud chorus of laughter from the table as she peeled herself off the boy, she noticed a little pain in her ankle, _probably just twisted it, again_. She could feel her face growing hot under the stares from the two youths. "I'm sorry." She muttered and hauled herself up and into one of the chairs.

"What did you do that for?" One of them said.

"Yeah, why did you do that?" The other echoed.

"It was an accident." She said quickly.

"Sure it was." Came John's cocky voice.

"Hey!" She shouted. "You're just making things worse."

"Hey, if you wanted my number you could have just asked." The guy she had knocked over said with a wink.

"Sorry, I don't date parrots." Was her reply and she heard some muffled laughter from her friends.

The boy pretended not to hear and pushed a piece of paper with his number at Aaliyah who snorted. The two then turned back to John.

"Can I have a light?" The way the boy said it made him sound like he was trying to communicate with someone hard of hearing.

"Sorry, can't help you out." John said with a flick of his lighter lid.

"Why you being such a dick?" Boy 1 asked.

"Yeah why you being such a dick?" Boy 2 echoed.

"Grammar saves lives, boys." Aaliyah said smartly.

John snickered and in the moment when he was distracted boy 1 stole the lighter and lit his cigarrette.

"Smoking's bad for you." Allie said with a frown on her face, she _hated _smokers, her father always had a cigarrette in his mouth, it brought back bad memories.

"Wow, aren't you smart." Boy 2 said sarcastically.

Aaliyah got annoyed and stood, painfully limping away because she was fearful that she might get too angry and her mutation might show up. She turned quickly when she heard something than sounded like the roar of a fire in time to see Boy 1's sleeve was on fire and Bobby quickly got him with ice before everything froze. She heard Rogue asking "Bobby, what did you do?"

"I didn't do this." He replied then the professor cut in.

"No, I did, and next time you feel like showing off, don't." He gave John a peircing stare and Aaliyah got a shock when she felt someone's arm snake around her waist but then she looked and saw it was only Ollie.

"Thanks." She said gratefully, leaning on him so she didn't hurt herself. "I'm so gosh darn clumsy sometimes." She mumbled annoyed to herself but apparently Oliver had heard her because he began to laugh.

On the way back, Aaliyah was told by Jean that she had, infact, sprained her ankle and she would have to use crutches for a few days. She groaned in reply, crutches looked awfully hard to use, she didn't want to further embaress herself. During the journey to the mansion something crossed Aaliyah's mind.

"Ollie?" She asked the boy who was sat with her.

"Yep?"

"What do _you _do?" She said inquisitively.

"Oh, didn't I tell you, I'm a psychic, more of an empath than anything." He smiled at the confused look on his friend's face. "I can feel your emotions."

"Oh, that mustn't be nice, well not if someone's sad or anything."

He shrugged. "You get used to it." Aaliyah nodded and they chatted on about powers until the reached the mansion and Ollie had to help Aaliyah get out of the vehicle and down to the med lab so that Jean could give the girl the dreaded crutches. They weren't as hard to use as they looked and by the time they had reached the kitchen Aaliyah was able to hop at a normal speed.

Bobby and Rogue were sat together on the couch, messing around when Allie and Ollie joined them. A few jokes were made at the girl's expense but she didn't mind, she knew they were doing it in good humour, not to be mean. The remainder of the day passed quite quickly and before long, Rogue and Aaliyah were settling in their room. Allie had a sudden burst of inspiration and reached for her beloved sketch pad and pencil, she spent at least two hours that night, drawing her interpretation of the mansion which she now thought of as home. It had provided her with everything she would need, friends, a place to stay, and soon an education. By the time she slept that night she couldn't shake the overwhelming happiness that was spreading through her mind.

Most of the next day passed without event, that was until a man with a very odd hairdo appeared late in the afternoon. Rogue had introduced him as Logan also known as Wolverine. He seemed very weird, quite feral really. She could see in his eyes that he relied heavily on animal instinct and that there was something troubling him. They didn't chat much, just a simple greeting before Oliver suggested they go and check out the library, which was fine by Aaliyah because she had a great love of reading, particularly fantasy books and fairytales, mainly because they sparked her imagination more than anything, she loved to daydream about the surreal.

The two teens managed to spend a few hours in the room filled with books of every kind before Ollie declared that he was tired and he departed, leaving the girl with the silver-white hair and violet eyes to become utterly absorbed in a very old looking book that was based upon an ancient myth.

All of a sudden she heard a loud banging noise followed by a high pitched shriek that made her clamp her hands over her ears and curl into a ball. When the screaming stopped, she was a little more frightened than she had been before because she thought that maybe someone or something had gotten to the shrieking child, and maybe that thing would get to her. She got shakily to her feet and propped herself up on her crutches when she heard the door of the library open and the sounds of several thumping feet enter the room. She had been found, and the worst thing was, she had no Idea who it was, if it was only some students then she would look like a coward, but if it was someone else, she could be in danger, she didn't know what to do so she hopped over to one of the larger bookshelves and hid herself behind it.

She thought she had gotten away with it when she heard whoever it was retreating, that was, until she felt something sting her neck and her world went blank.


	5. Captive

Mistaken

When she woke up she was in a strange cell with six other kids she only recognised from appearance, she knew they were all residents of the mansion like her. The last thing she could remember was hiding behind a large bookshelf in the library and feeling something prick her neck.

She felt quite cold then she looked down to see she was only wearing a thin blue tanktop and a pair of black shorts, whoever had kidnapped her hadn't given her back her crutches so she would have difficulty walking. All the other occupants in the room were younger than her, she noticed, and they all reflected the fright she felt on their faces.

"Do any of you know who took us here?" She asked, looking at each of them in turn as they shook their heads. "Oh dear. Well, don't worry, I'll find us a way out of here." She said trying to sound confident, she knew that the children around her would need something to pick up their spirits. "What are all your names? I'm Aaliyah I've only been at the mansion for a few days."

"Artie" A boy with dark curls and pale skin.

"Maya." A pretty tanned girl with caramel coloured hair, she couldn't have been any older than fourteen.

"Lucy." A small blonde with wide blue eyes.

"James." An orange haired boy with eyes the colour of coffee.

"Ray." The boy with white blond hair and grey eyes.

"Max." He only looked to be around a year younger than Aaliyah with strange orange eyes and peculiar green hair.

"Well, it's nice to meet you all." She said, trying to look on the bright side of life when there was a sudden bang as the door flew open and two armed men stormed inside, grabbed one of her arms each and dragged her out of the room.

"Aaliyah, It's nice to see you again." Her breath stopped in her throat when she noticed it was the man who had been with her father in the mall that day."I'm William Stryker." He stuck out a hand for the girl to shake but she merely glared at him. "Where are your manners?" He arched an eyebrow and the girl childishly stuck her tongue out at him. "I suppose you want to know why you're here." She nodded. "Well, I've got a little _invention _that's going to make this world a better place. You and your little friends in there are going to be part of the testing, we're going to be watching you to make sure it's working. You should feel honoured that you're here to do this, at least you wont die alone."

His words brought tears to the girls eyes and she tried to blink them away but she couldn't. A week ago if you told her she was going to die she would have just accepted it and moved on with her life, but now, now she had friends, she had experienced a normal life, she didn't want to leave it behind. She didn't want to leave her friends behind.

"You mutants think you're all better than us, don't you? Well, you're wrong, it's a filthy disease, you people are already dead." He spat at her and turned away, motioning with his hands for the girl to be thrown back into the room. It hurt when they did because she landed awkwardly on her sprained ankle. She brushed away the tears before the others could see, she didn't want them to lose what little hope they might have.

The seven mutants sat, huddled together for warmth and chatted half heartedly about the mansion, and hopes and dreams that they had. Soon they all fell asleep, all except Allie who lay thinking about Oliver, she knew that her being missing would be hard on him, she just hoped he didn't take it too badly and do anything stupid. He was the last thing she thought about when she fell asleep at last, her breath becoming soft and even.

Much of the next day was spent simply sitting, Stryker did not return, he left them to their own purposes, not giving them anything at all, which was hard because she knew that some of her companions were very hungry and they were getting a little homesick.

Lucy had come over to Allie when she had sat with her back against the wall. "Allie?" She said.

"Yeah, honey?"

"I'm scared, I don't like this place." Her voice was small and Aaliyah held out her arms and pulled the girl onto her lap in a comforting hug.

"I know, sweetie, but we wont be here for much longer." She started to rythmically stroke the girls hair and soon she heard strange noises echoeing through the floor and walls.

_They've come for us, _she thought, _we're safe. _Moments after thinking this a strange, blue man appeared in the room with a waft of smoke and Aaliyah was relieved when she saw Storm standing above the ceiling grate. The man grabbed Artie and Maya and teleported them to where Storm was standing, then he did the same for Max and James, Ray, and finally Aaliyah and Lucy.

"Storm!" Allie exclaimed. "You need to be careful, Stryker he's got some kind of machine here, he's going to do something terrible..." She stopped as she saw a familiar face step out of the shadows behind Storm.

"Oliver!" She shouted and wrapped her arms around him in a crushing hug when he walked up to her.

" 'Liyah, you're okay. We were worried." He mumbled and looped his arms around her in return.

"Ahem." Storm cleared her throat then the two teens remembered where they were and quickly began to follow Storm as she left the room and stalked down the halls. Aaliyah found it difficult to walk and soon she had hopped onto her noble steeds back and was being carried. She couldn't help but giggle even though she knew it wasn't the right time. It didn't take them long to come across Jean and Cyclops, it looked as if Jean had an injury of her own too becuase Scott had his arm around her, supporting her weight.

All of a sudden Aaliyah felt something horrible, excrutiating peircing her head, she clutched at it and felt the searing pain seep further into her brain, clouding her vision. Oliver leaned against the wall, it was clear they were all bearing witness to the same pain and she realised that this was what Stryker had been talking about when he had spoken to her the day before.

It cleared soon and they were all recovering quickly, their minds going into action mode and they made for the place where something called Cerebro was, Storm and the blue man going inside via teleportation. When they emerged again the blue man had the professor aswell and he and Storm shared his weight because he didn't have a wheelchair so they had to carry him between them as they searched for an escape route. The man called Wolverine intersected them on their path, telling them they shouldn't be going that way so instead they followed him until they made it to an exit. Something wasn't right. The water was breaking through, they would never make it on time, but then she saw it. A huge jet landed on the snow before them, a very frightened looking Rogue behind the wheel and they all rushed into it, all except Wolverine who walked off in a different direction entirely, still carrying Artie after he had fallen onto the ground.

It made quite a difference to be in the warmth of the jet after spending the last two days in the cold dungeon of Stryker's facility. Oliver lowered Aaliyah down onto one of the seats near the rear of the vehicle and she was vaguely aware of him throwing a blanket over her small frame and Bobby's and Rogue's exclamations over her safety and reapperance before she fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.


	6. Joining the Team

Mistaken

Aaliyah woke up in hers and Rogue's room without the slightest idea how she got there, her mind had gone completely blank. She turned her head in an attempt to see if her roomate was in the room with her, she was, and so was Penny. They were both conversing quietly but stopped when they saw the girl had her violet eyes open.

"Look who's awake." Penny said.

"W-what happened?" Allie's voice was croaky and hoarse.

"Well, you fell asleep once we got you onto the jet, uh, the water broke through and Professor Grey went out and stopped it from hitting the jet, she got us back up into the air with her powers but then..." Rogue stopped.

"Then?"

"She wouldn't let anyone get her, she even stopped that scary blue guy, and she's gone." Penny's voice was quite and she looked bery awkward, as did Rogue.

"Oh." Aaliyah said and sat up, "So, I guess there's no doctor here anymore then. I'll have to be more careful." She hoped to sound light hearted because she could see her friends were a little down but it didn't work, she sighed. "Where're the guys?"

"Bobby and Oliver are probably outside, it's a nice day, and, uh, John left, he left with some guy named Magneto." Penny sounded a little sad when she said the last bit.

_Oh, she liked him. _Aaliyah thought. "Well, I guess I'll get dressed, I can't hang around in here forever, you guys can go if you want, I'll catch you up." She smiled kindly at them and watched as they nodded and walked out of the room.

When she walked into the bathroom to take a shower, Aaliyah was shocked when she saw her reflection in the mirror, her hair was matted and her eyes were shadowed by dark purple-ish circles that made her face look gaunt. She let the hot water pour over her, she couldn't help but feel incredibly dirty after spending time in the company of the man called Stryker, he made her feel worthless, like scum. She knew she shouldn't let his views get to her, he was the sam as her father, but, like with her father, she just couldn't shake the feeling that there was truth behind their words. She scrubbed at her skin until it was an angry red. She dried her hair with the towel and raked a brush through it before pulling it into a loose plait. She didn't make much of an effort when dressing that day, she simply threw on a pair of jeans, a white shirt and a thin black cardigan. Observing herself once more she noted that her face, since coming to the mansion looked a little less thin, less severe, it made her appearance a little less daunting but she couldn't help but notice how her eyes were the only thing that looked alive in her face, her skin looked pasty and a little blotchy. If she had a choice she would simply hole away in the room for the day but she knew that wouldn't help anything, she needed to make an effort, prove to herself that she wouldn't let the men's words get to her.

Like she said, it didn't take her long to find her friends, they were indeed sat outside, beneath the tree where Allie had first met John and Bobby on her first day at the mutant academy. They all looked a little sad, but it was hard knowing someone died, even if you didn't know them all that well. She was sure most of them felt the same way she did, that the death would be hardest upon Professor Summers and that watching someone else go through that was worse than going through it yourself.

"Hello." She said half-heartedly.

She recieved a chorus of "Hi" from the four teenage mutants who sat there.

"'Liyah, what happened at the facility?" Oliver asked her, looking genuinely interested, then she realised that she was one of the only seven people who could tell them and of course they would want to know, she was there friend, they cared about her.

"Nothing really, just sitting and rotting in a dank cell. The man, Stryker, he spoke to me, warned me, he said that we were going to be the proof that his little theory works, we were ginuea pigs." She frowned.

"Oh, by invention did he mean Cerebro?" Rogue asked.

Aaliyah nodded. "Yep, he wanted to watch it working, the evil pony."

"Pony?" Penny raised a plucked brow and when Allie nodded there was a soft chorus of laughter and she realised that she didn't really have to dwell on the past, when she had friends like those she could just move on, she wasn't alone anymore.

"Did you know, forty percent of the dolphin population is gay?" She asked no-one in particular.

Oliver surprised her by say, "Yes, actaully I did."

Allie grumbled in reply. "Spoilsport. You wound me with your great knowledge of the world, Oliver Pickle." She clutched at her heart with one hand and used to other to make mock fainting movements.

"Pickle?" He asked shaking his head.

"Yes, I don't know your last name so from now on you shall be known as Pickle."

"Fine then, Aaliyah Pudding."

"Ooh pudding, I do like pudding, so no harm done, dear lad." She smiled at him.

"You like anything edible." He replied, looking very pleased with himself.

She leant over and bit his arm, before looking up and grinning. "I sure as hell do, but do me a favour?"

"What?"

"Season yourself, it brings out the flavour of the meak."

"Don't you mean flavour of the meat?" Penny asked skeptically.

"Nope, Oliver is meak and therefore I shall refer to him as meak. He will be promoted to meat when he deserves it." She smiled proudly.

"Evil." He muttered under his breath making them all laugh.

Just then a familiar figure walked up to them, it was Maya, the girl who had been with Allie in the facility. "Aaliyah, the Professor wants to see you." She said and waited until the girl got up so she could walk back to the mansion. "I think it's about the last few days."

"Oh, well that's not too bad, I was thinking maybe these people had finally come to their senses and were going to get me knighted."

"Knighted?" The girl asked, obviously confused.

"Yep, then people would have to refer to me as Dame. That would be a big bowl of fun, right?"

"Sure." Maya rolled her eyes and left Aaliyah to walk into the waiting Professors office.

"Have a seat." The bald man instructed and Aaliyah was aware of the man known as Wolverine standing in the corner of the room, observing everything. "Now, I understand Stryker talked to you while you were at the base?"

She nodded. "Yep he said that we were going to be observed while he tried out his little invention by which I think he meant that Cerebro thing. He made some mean remarks too, but our little chat was lacking anything important, just threats really."

The professor looked at her oddly. "Thank you, Aaliyah. Now we have another matter to discuss, we believe that your powers could be quite an asset to our team; the X-Men. Along with some of your peers we would like you to undergo Danger Room sessions that will help you to learn how to use your mutation, that is if you don't mind?"

"Oh, if I can do something to help you guys, I'd be honoured, what's the Danger Room?" She asked, curiously.

"A training room, where your powers will be put to the test against foes and you gain combat experience and learn to work as part of a team."

"Sounds cool. When do we start?"

"Tomorrow. We have reason to believe that something bigger than all of us could be on the way, and we need to be prepared for it. That's all." He said dismissively and the girl got up to leave.

She was astonished that she had been asked to help, she didn't even know what her powers really were yet, but the Professor had said that she would be useful to the team so she was to start training. It was all pretty fast a week ago she had still been living in the shadows, trying to be completely invisible to her father and his allies. Since she gained her mutation, everything had changed.


End file.
